The Fading Suns, a space opera role playing universe created in the 1990’s gave birth to video games, table top RPGs, miniatures, and through the hard work of creators and fans of the universe, an anthology called The Sinful Stars. With nearly 20 short stories, an introduction to the world, a glossary and a star map, The Sinful Stars is a perfect introduction to this world for newbies like me, and a wonderful return for folks who are already familiar with The Fading Suns. Inspired by Dune, Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, medieval passion plays and Asimov’s Foundation series, The universe of The Fading Suns is part Babylon5, part Firefly, part throwback to a new Dark Ages complete with inquisition, and part cautionary tale.

The entries in The Sinful Stars run the gamut of the population: following members of noble houses and powerful religious orders, all the way to spies, peasants, and thieves.Not only my first RPG tie-in anthology, but my first shared world anthology, where a dozen or more writes are offering their take on a corner of the universe. All the stories are stand alones, but nearly all of them refer to a person, planet, or church mentioned in a different story, which brings everything together in a satisfyingly episodic manner. I’ve not had much luck with themed anthologies in the past for one reason or another, but reading a handful of stories in a shared universe was a pleasure.Read the rest of this entry »

FTC Stuff

some of the books reviewed here were free ARCs supplied by publishers/authors/other groups. Some of the books here I got from the library. the rest I *gasp!* actually paid for. I'll do my best to let you know what's what.